Nilaja Sun Visit by Yann Burrett

Nilaja Sun visit – Yann Burrett

There are too few people who are lucky enough to be doing something they absolutely love as a living.  Nilaja Sun seems to be one of the lucky few, as my classmates and I were fortunate enough to discover when she came to talk to us about her piece “No Child...”

Nilaja began her talk in character, slipping immediately into the character of the Custodian and delivering the opening monolog from the play.  This is because “I think everyone here has probably had a long day, so I wanted to give you a moment to find your heart space, to stop having to live in your head for a moment and just be in your heart.”

To me at least, the evening focused on the ideas of joy, of “heart”, of emotional expression and of honesty.  Nilaja is a wonderfully engaging speaker, and as we looked at the world through her lens we discovered a place where it the power of enabling people to understand and express themselves is paramount.  Through this talk, teenagers were not troubled youth or delinquents, but human beings struggling to find their place in a wider world.  “I just want them to have a chance to express their goodness”, she explained.

Not just adolescents – teachers were explained too.  A lot of emphasis was placed on recognizing the work teachers do and on how much energy it takes to lead a classroom of thirty students all day.  Even teachers were encouraged to examine this aspect of themselves. Nilaja explained that she wanted to give teachers permission to breathe and laugh at themselves and their classrooms.

The evening was a wonderful mix of entertainment and advocacy.  It was one where we were encouraged to see theatre as an inherent human activity, as an important factor in development and as more than just something to offer if there's a surplus in the school budget.  

Another Perspective by Avram Mlotek

Another Perspective by Avram Mlotek

As a rabbinical student, my days are usually spent interacting with sacred texts.  The goal then becomes to translate these texts into real life so that they feel relevant and meaningful.  As someone who grew up in a family immersed in Yiddish culture, I believe the arts in general can be a powerful tool in helping this translation process.  In the same breath, however, I believe the arts deserve their own time and space in educational settings so to foster creativity, collaboration and open mindedness.  

As a current teacher and tutor, I hope to create learning environments that bridge the worlds of learning traditional Jewish texts with dynamic ways of accessing them, while also leave time for creative play.  In studying the weekly Torah portion, students will engage with source sheets and study guide questions, but we'll also use theater exercises and improvisational games to dive deeper into the material at hand.  We'll play with tableau in capturing a moment from the parasha, the Torah portion, that particularly resonates with a student or student pair.  We'll use guided imagery to imagine what specific moments in history might have looked like or felt like.  We'll experience holidays as they come up, as students play with storytelling, each student sharing a sentence of the holiday's background.  Theater tools can bring any subject matter to life and Jewish education is no different.

Designated time for creative play is just as important.  It allows the artist within the student to emerge, and live freely.  Class might begin with a warm up, aiming to bring students into the work they'll later engage in.  Class might end with free time to write creatively.  I've found making the time and space for this type of learning in the classroom setting to be crucially important especially because it gives voice to those students who learn in different ways.  

A teacher's toolbox should includes the panorama of the arts - music, dance, visual art, fiction, poetry, theater, film and the like.  As a rabbi in training who teaches in a variety of settings, this is the "stuff" that helps makes the classroom space come alive.  I'm grateful to CUNY's program in Educational Theatre for helping me further appreciate this and provide me with the support and training necessary to be able to transform the classroom into this type of magical learning space.

Balancing Process and Product By Martha Hearn

Balancing Process and Product
Martha Hearn

“Let’s do that again!”

Those were the first words I uttered after my first performance in a major role. I was in 6^th grade, and I could not have felt more alive.

That rush and sense of accomplishment from theatre has never left me. Whether I’m performing, directing, or writing, nothing compares to the feeling of putting your work in front of an audience. This magnifies when working with young people because I get to watch them through the lens of my gangly 12 year old self, experiencing that exhilaration for the very first time.

Before I began my graduate school journey at City College of New York this past September, my greatest teacher fantasies focused on those moments. Watching my students high five and hug after they completed their first performance. Listening to them relive the best moments from the show. Begging me for one more performance and desperately inquiring about the next auditions. These dreams of youthful joy are supported in my Theatre for Young Audiences class. Discussing techniques for creating work with students heightens my ideals even more. Imagine the delight on those future students’ faces when the performance was something they also created together! The pride, the ensemble, the wonder! I’ve always believed that  creating work in theatre builds confidence and empowers students to be leaders and innovators in the world of theatre and beyond.

But in my Drama in Education class, a whole new door of educational theatre was opened. Process drama. Creative dramatics. Teacher in role. No audience was mentioned. No culminating performance was referenced. What was this product-free world? How were my students going to win theatre competitions with this listless drama for drama sake?

But as Prof. Sobha Kavanakudiyil guides us deeper into this world, my mind travels even farther into the past, beyond sixth grade all the way to Kindergarten. I remember pretending to be babies with my best friend, committing to the point of drinking out of bottles. I remember dedicating ourselves to the idea of being identical twins, even practicing our handwriting to look the same. Truly method creative dramatics. The satisfaction of that make believe, even without anyone watching, instilled something inside of me even more profound than that exhilaration that would come years later. It created confidence and imagination. It built a personality able to lead others and solve problems creatively. And yet, before Drama in Education I’d never considered these moments to be a part of my theatrical education because they took place outside of a classroom.

Imagine if a teacher had been there to guide my entire class through these new stories and worlds within our minds.

I was lucky to have parents and other adults in my life that supported my theatrical flights of fantasy. But not every child has those people in their lives. That is why we need drama teachers in schools that aren’t there to just put them up on stage to perform but help them develop their creative energy and storytelling abilities within a safe environment and community of their peers.

I am grateful to the Educational Theatre program for opening my eyes to this balance between process and product. My development as an educator has been altered for the better. I wasn’t expecting to have an epiphany that would change my educational philosophy so drastically within the first few months of starting this program. But I’m beginning to see that my path of learning is going to be quite different than what I expected.

My visions of exhilaration and post-performance joy haven’t disappeared. They’ve expanded in a way I never imagined, and that is truly exhilarating.

Fable Talk by Lisanne Ware

Hello Old Friend Theatre….

CCNY Educational Theatre performs “Fable Talk”

By:  Lisanne Ware

“I don't know why I'm frightened

I know my way around here

The cardboard trees, the painted seas, the sound here...

Yes, a world to rediscover

But I 'm not in any hurry

And I need a moment

           

             The whispered conversations in overcrowded hallways

So much to say not just today but always...

We'll have early morning madness

We'll have magic in the making

Yes, everything's as if we never said goodbye

Yes, everything's as if we never said goodbye...

We taught the world new ways to dream!”

-Sunset Boulevard

On Saturday morning of October 27^th I set out on mass transit earlier than I have been up on a Saturday in a long time to perform “Fable Talk” with CCNY Educational Theatre. “Fable Talk” is an adaptation of “The Tortoise and the Hare” written and directed by the talented Mollie Lief.  I had the honor of playing a German psychiatrist lion named Dr. Moral, Emily Evans plays Olympic gold medalist Hare Hoppings, Rob Dunn is the adorable Shel Tortestein, Kat DeLapp plays a lively talk show host named Polly Panda, and Wendy Rojas gives the play by plays as commentator Fantastic Mr. Fox.

 I was shaking as I reviewed my script on the subway.  Though I have performed many times, this time felt extra special as it has been years since I put on my artist hat that I tried to give up.  For me personally however, the life long artist that was sparked in me many years ago in my childhood is a flame that cannot be quenched.  I couldn’t help but smile at the thought that this performance has the potential to spark that same flame in the children watching our performance.  I was humming the above-mentioned song as I made my way to the performance and said to myself “I am enough, I am an artist”.   I’ve never said goodbye to my artistry or my love of theatre and music because I was lucky enough to see live performances and had teachers who integrated the arts into curriculums.  Passing this along to future generations is my passion and the passion of all of us at CCNY Educational Theatre.

Our first performance took place outdoors for the Hamilton Heights Parent Association.  We arrived to an audience of many small children dressed for Halloween.   Some gawked at us with wide eyes of anticipation, while others clung to their parents not quite sure if they were going to like this “thing” taking place.  I was nervous with anticipation as well. This was my first performance in nearly 2 years.  As the show progressed, I felt very lucky to be a part of this amazing and talented group.  Since starting in my first semester at CCNY, everyone in the Educational Theatre Department has made me feel safe and at home.  Today was no different.  The warmth of support radiated off of all of us and the sense that we were all in this together for the kids was palpable.  The audience of little ones laughed and clapped and all around had a great time. (As did the adoring parents)  We were able to shake hands and speak with some of the children after the show.  Most of the children I spoke to had naturally gone into role as the character they were costumed in for Halloween.  I shook hands with and then got eaten by a tiny shark, helped a spunky little spider girl unravel the “web” tied to her candy bag, and was put under some sort of spell by a miniature witch.  I’m not exactly sure what all those tiny beautiful minds got out of the show, but I am positive they experienced something.  That is the beauty of art!  Whatever they took away is with them for always now, even if it just simply inspired them to play!

Our second performance was very different from the first.  We performed at a local Help USA Homeless Shelter.  I immediately noticed how animated the children in the audience were and how excited and grateful many of the parents were.  We set up in the lobby with just a couple of chairs and our bare bones costumes and the magic of the theatre began!  I specifically noticed a very small child in a stroller in the front row who was smiling and literally trying to dance his way out of his stroller!  Though he couldn’t have been more than two years old, he was experiencing so much.  After working through the nerves at the first show, the cast was excited to do it again.  I thought about how ironic it was that I felt so at home there with my new Educational Theatre family, yet we were performing for an audience struggling to find a place called home.  I hope we made them feel a sense of home that day through the arts.  Home is where the heart is and it was evident that the hearts of those children were bursting with pride as Emily in role as Hare Hoppings pointed to each and every one of them declaring they were winners!

Overall, the day was a success and so much fun that I didn’t want it to end!  I feel lucky and excited for what is to come in my time with CCNY Educational Theatre.  Working with everyone for the first time on that Saturday morning was inspiring and exciting.  I hope we inspired the kids watching.  I am so glad to be a part of this group and this program, I’m so glad the artist inside me never said goodbye.